Hans, Free

There has been no funnier actor in the business than the late, great Hans Conried.  I only had the pleasure of meeting him twice.  Once was at a Tribute to Jay Ward.  Hans was there, of course, because of his memorable voice work as Snidely Whiplash in the Dudley Do-Right cartoons, and as Uncle Waldo on Hoppity Hooper, as well as his on-camera hosting of Fractured Flickers.  He was rightfully mobbed and when June Foray introduced us, I had just enough time to say, "It's an honor to meet one of my fav-" before someone dragged him off to be interviewed by a TV news crew.

I had a somewhat better allotment of quality time when I visited a writer-friend on the set of the TV show, Alice, and found that Mr. Conried was the guest star.  While the rest of the cast rehearsed a scene he was not in, I got to finish my sentence, and Hans launched into wonderful anecdotes about working with Jay, playing Captain Hook for Mr. Disney, portraying Danny Thomas's Uncle Tonoose, etc.  It was one of those "wish I'd had a tape recorder" moments.

At www.hansconried.com, a fan of this fine actor has set up a site full of photos and biographical material.  It's just getting started but it's already worth a visit.  If I can manage to recall some of the stories he told me, I'll try to post them here and offer them to that site, as well.